Knife holder

ABSTRACT

A knife holder has a base (2) which supports several gripping members (9) in the form of rollers (12) of elastomer placed pair-wise in side-by-side relationship and cooperating with each other. The rollers (12) are each mounted on a journal (13) located on the base (2) and have facing circumferential surfaces (14) which form therebetween a nip (15). A knife (10) may be moved with its blade (11) into and out of the nip, the rollers (12) rolling on both sides of the blade and under elastic blade (11) retentive deformation of the rollers. A protective outer casing (3) is removably mounted on the base (2) and has recesses (17) in the region of each gripping member (9) in order to permit ready insertion and removal of the knives (10).

The present invention relates to a holder for flatware such as knivesand the like, the holder having an elongate base which may be mounted ona surface, for example a wall or the like, and supports one or moregripping members, the knives being individually movable with theirblades into and out of retentive engagement therewith.

Flatware holders of this type have been available on the market for manyyears but have not, because of certain inherent disadvantages, yetenjoyed any great success. Among these disadvantages, mention might bemade of the fact that the gripping members, after a period of use, losetheir gripping capacity, with the result that the knife or knives heldin place suddenly and without prior warning come loose from the holderand fall down onto a sink or kitchen unit located beneath the holder,thereby either being damaged or causing injury to anyone in the vicinityof the sink unit. Conversely, the gripping members may, after a time,become jammed so that it becomes impossible either to remove or insert aknife. This latter disadvantage is particularly manifest in that type ofholder in which the gripping members consist of clamping rollers or thelike which are movable along a ramp surface.

In the type of holder in which the gripping members consist of magnetsfor magnetic retention of the knives, there is a risk that the knives,on being lightly jolted, loosen from the magnets with the consequentialrisk that the knives themselves are damaged or that a person nearby isinjured.

In both the magnetic type of gripping member and in gripping members ofmetal in general, there is also the disadvantage that the cutting edgeof the knife may be damaged on contact with the metal, and, if the knifeedge is turned outwardly in the holder to avoid this risk such that theedge never comes into contact with the metal, there is instead the riskthat the exposed edge of the knife in the holder will cause injury to aperson standing or passing nearby.

The major object of the present invention is, by means of a novel andunique construction and function in the gripping members of a holder ofthe type disclosed by way of introduction, to obviate primarily theabove-discussed disadvantages, thus realizing a flatware holder which isreliable and functionally acceptable from all points of view.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that each grippingmember comprises two rollers placed in side by side relationship andcooperating with each other, the rollers being wholly or partly made ofan elastomer and each being mounted on a journal located on the base,the rollers having facing circumferential surfaces which form a nip, theknife blade being movable into and out of the nip with the rollersrolling on both sides of the blade under elastic, blade-retentivedeformation of the rollers.

The invention will be described in greater detail below with referenceto the accompanying drawings which show a particularly preferredembodiment of the holder according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the holder according to the invention, inthe left-hand half of the drawing, the outer casing having been brokenaway for purposes of illustrating details inside the casing.

FIG. 2 shows the holder of FIG. 1 from above with the outer casing inthe left-hand half of the drawing being in section.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along the line III--III in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one of several rollers included in theholder according to the invention.

The holder according to the invention shown on the drawings andgenerally designated 1 has, as major components, a base 2 and an outercasing 3.

The base 2 is made of a suitable plastics and has a generally elongateform. The base is composed of a substantially rectangular and verticallydirected mounting plate 4 and a substantially horizontally directedbracket 5 produced integrally therewith. The mounting plate 4 displayssuitably located through-holes 6 for allowing the passage of fixingdevices (not shown) for mounting the plate 4, and thereby the entirebase 2, to a vertical surface 7, for example a wall or the like, thefixing devices (not shown) being also passed, in a manner which will bedescribed below, through holes in the outer casing 3 for simultaneousfixing of the casing to the base.

The bracket 5 is, as was mentioned above, produced integrally with themounting plate 4 and is in the form of a relatively thin shelf, struts 8being provided for reinforcing the connection of the bracket 5 to theplate 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the bracket 5 carries sixgripping members 9, knives (of which one is shown at 10) beingindividually movable with their blades 11 into and out of retentiveengagement with the gripping members.

Each gripping member 9 comprises two rollers 12 in side-by-siderelationship and cooperating with each other, the rollers in theillustrated embodiment being wholly manufactured of a suitableelastomer. The rollers 12 are each mounted on a journal 13 which isintegrally manufactured with the bracket 5 and extends verticallyupwardly therefrom, the rollers having facing circumferential surfaces14. If, in an alternative embodiment, the entire rollers 12 are notmanufactured from elastomer, at least the circumferential surfaces 14are manufactured from such material. The facing circumferential surfaces14 on the rollers 12 in each gripping member 9 form a nip 15 into andout of which the knife blade 11 may be moved, the rollers 12 rolling onthe opposing sides of the blade and either the rollers or theircircumferential surfaces 14 being deformed in order fixedly to retainthe blade between themselves.

In order to guarantee the retentive force against the knife blade 11 orincrease this force when the blade is inserted in the nip 15, both ofthe rollers 12 included in each gripping member 9 are identical in shapeand size and the journals 13 for these rollers are spaced a slightlyless mutual distance from each other than the diameter of each roller sothat the facing circumferential surfaces 14 of the rollers 12 formingthe nip 15 abut elastically deformed against each other as is apparentfrom the left-hand half of FIG. 1.

In order that the knife blade 11 readily be movable into and out of thenip 15 between the circumferential surfaces 14 of the rollers 12 forinsertion or removal, the bracket 5 has, in the region of each nip 15, arecess 16 which is open at its forward end and V-shaped in horizontalprojection.

For the same reason, the outer casing 3 (which is suitably, removablymounted on the base 2) has recesses 17 above and below the rollers 12 ineach gripping member 9, the recesses being forwardly or outwardly openand V-shaped in horizontal projection. More precisely, the outer casing3 (which is made of a suitable plastics) is applied over the grippingmembers 9 in order to cover and protect them from damage at the sametime as it, naturally, is to assist in imparting an attractiveappearance to the holder 1 as a whole. The outer casing 3 is snuglyfitted on the mounting plate 4 about the periphery of the plate and isprovided with through-holes 18 so that the fixing devices (not shown)may be passed through the holes 6 and 18 in both the mounting plate 4and the outer casing 3 for fixedly anchoring the holder 1 to the surface7 and the outer casing 3 on the plate 4.

One of the rollers 12 included in the holder 1 according to theinvention is shown in FIG. 4. Apart from the previously mentionedcircumferential surface 14, this roller has a hub 19 with a through-hole20 for the journal 13. In order to impart to the circumferential surfacethe requisite elasticity, it is possible, as shown on the drawing, toprovide circumferential grooves 21 on the side surfaces 22 of the roller12 so that the circumferential surface 14 is connected to the hub 19 bythe intermediary of a slighter web 23, which thereby imparts greaterradial elasticity to the circumferential surface.

The embodiment described above and shown on the drawings is to beparticularly preferred, but it should be observed that many otherembodiments and detail variations are possible within the spirit andscope of the claimed patent protection.

We claim:
 1. A holder for knives and similar flatware, the holder havingan elongate base which may be mounted on a surface for example a wall orthe like and supports one or more gripping members with which the knivesmay individually be moved with their blades into and out of retentiveengagement, characterized in that each gripping member comprises tworollers in side by side relationship and cooperating with each other,the rollers being at least partially made of an elastomer material andeach being mounted on a journal located on the base, the rollers havingfacing circumferential surfaces which form a nip into and out of whichthe knife blade may be moved, with the rollers rolling on the two sidesof the blade under elastic blade-retentive deformation of the rollers.2. A holder according to claim 1, characterized in that both rollersincluded in each gripping member are identical, and that the journalstherefor have a mutual spacing which is less than the diameter of eachrespective roller, such that the facing circumferential surfaces of therollers, forming the nip, abut elastically deformed against each otherin order to increase the retentive force against the knife blade whensame is inserted in the nip.
 3. A holder according to claim 1 or 2,characterized in that the base comprises a substantially verticalmounting plate for mounting the holder on the surface and asubstantially horizontally directed bracket integral with the mountingplate, and that the journals of the rollers are integral with thebracket and are directed substantially vertically upwardly therefrom. 4.A holder according to claim 3, characterized in that the bracket isprovided, in the region of each gripping member, with a recess leaving afree passage for the knife blade.
 5. A holder according to claim 4,characterized in that a protective outer casing is removably mounted onthe base suitably on the mounting plate thereof, and has outwardly openrecesses in the region of each gripping member in order to permit readyinsertion and removal of the knives.
 6. A holder according to claim 3,characterized in that a protective outer casing is removably mounted onthe base suitably on the mounting plate thereof, and has outwardly openrecesses in the region of each gripping member in order to permit readyinsertion and removal of the knives.
 7. A holder according to claim 1further comprising a mounting plate attached to said base, and aprotective outer casing removably mounted on the base suitably on themounting plate thereof and having outwardly open recesses in the regionof each gripping member in order to permit ready insertion and removalof the knives.
 8. A holder according to claim 2 further comprising amounting plate attached to said base, and a protective outer casingremovably mounted on the base suitably on the mounting plate thereof andhaving outwardly open recesses in the region of each gripping member inorder to permit ready insertion and removal of the knives.
 9. A holderas claimed in any one of claims 1, 2, 7, or 8 wherein said rollers arewholly made of an elastomer material.
 10. A holder for knives andsimilar flatware, the holder having an elongate base which may bemounted on a surface for example a wall or the like and supports one ormore gripping members with which the knives may individually be movedwith their blades into and out of retentive engagement, characterized inthat each gripping member comprises two rollers in side by siderelationship and cooperating with each other, the rollers being at leastpartially made of an elastomer material and each being mounted on asubstantially vertically directed journal located on the base, therollers having facing circumferential surfaces which form a nip into andout of which the knife blade may be moved, with the rollers rolling onthe two sides of the blade under elastic blade-retentive deformation ofthe rollers.
 11. A holder for knives and similar flatware, the holderhaving an elongate base which may be mounted on a surface for example awall or the like and supports one or more gripping members with whichthe knives may individually be moved with their blades into and out ofretentive engagement, characterized in that each gripping membercomprises two rollers in side by side relationship and cooperating witheach other, the rollers being at least partially made of an elastomermaterial and each being mounted on a journal located on the base, therollers having facing circumferential surfaces which form a nip into andout of which the knife blade may be moved, with the rollers rolling onthe two sides of the blade under elastic blade-retentive deformation ofthe rollers, thereby constituting the sole means of support for saidknives.